Frame jointing assembly and the like

ABSTRACT

A corner structure for use in assembling and dismantling frames for screens, etc., includes two extruded members to be joined to each other at a 90° angle and a corner piece. Each extruded member has an X-shaped cross section with lips at the ends of the cross members forming lipped channels. The corner piece is in the shape of a right triangle and is provided with pairs of flanges extending longitudinally along two sides of the triangle. The flanges are longitudinally insertable into the lipped channels.

This application is related to copending application Ser. No. 802,872,filed June 2, 1977.

This invention relates generally to frameworks such as are used inshelving, partitioning and the like.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided anelement for releasably fastening two members together, the element beingT-shaped and comprising a head constituting the cross-bar of the "T" anda collar forming the upright of the "T", there being a bore passingthrough the collar and the head, and the collar comprising a cylindricalportion adjacent to and merging with the head and a further portionprotruding from the cylindrical portion on the side thereof remote fromthe head, the further portion having a longitudinally extending facewhich intersects a transversely extending end face of said cylindricalportion.

Preferably said faces intersect at right angles to one another and saidlongitudinally extending face lies in a plane parallel to the directionin which the head is elongated.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provideda structure comprising an element as described above, a screw and astructural member having a longitudinal face with a longitudinallyextending re-entrant groove therein and a transverse face intersectingsaid longitudinal face, said element being positioned with itstransversely extending face in engagement with the transverse face ofsaid member, its longitudinally extending face in engagement with thelongitudinal face of said member and the axis of its bore aligned withthe longitudinal axis of said re-entrant groove, said screw passingthrough said head and said cylindrical portion and into said re-entrantgroove to secure said element to said member.

It is preferred that the circumferential extent of said part cylindricalgroove in said further portion and the circumferential extent of saidre-entrant groove are such that the two groves complement one another toform a bore which is an extension of the bore of the said element.

The structure preferably also includes a further structural memberhaving a longitudinally extending slot therein leading to alongitudinally extending cavity, the slot being bounded by two flangesand having a width greater than that of said collar but less than themaximum dimension of the head and said cavity being sufficiently largeto receive said head, said head being within said cavity with the endportions of the cross-bar behind said flanges, and the collar being insaid slot.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided acorner structure comprising a first member and a second member an end ofwhich second member abuts a longitudinally extending face of said firstmember, each of said members having a longitudinally extending slotbounded by two flanges, first and second corner elements, each cornerelement having edges which intersect at the same angle as said membersmeet and each having grooves in one face thereof which grooves extendadjacent to said edges, the corner elements being located side-by-sidein the angle enclosed by said member, and each having one of the flangesof one of said members entered in one of its grooves and one of theflanges of the other member entered in the other of its grooves, and awedging element between said corner elements and forcing said cornerelements away from one another and into engagement with said members.

The other face of each corner element may have a step therein thereby toprovide a raised face portion and a lower face portion, there being aninclined ramp surface linking said face portions. In this constructionalform, each ramp surface is preferably triangular in shape with a baseedge merging with said lower face portion, and triangular flank surfacesextending along the other two edges of said ramp surface and mergingboth with said ramp surface and said raised face portion.

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how thesame may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way ofexample, to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross section through a structural member;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, to a larger scale, of an element for joiningtwo members of the form shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the element of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows the element of FIGS. 2 and 3 mounted on the member of FIG.1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating two members as shown in FIG. 1 joinedby an element as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 6 is a pictorial view of one component of a corner structure, oneface of the component being visible;

FIG. 7 is a section on the line VII--VII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the other face of the component of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a section on the line IX--IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a wedging element;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation of a corner structure, and

FIG. 12 is a front elevation of the corner structure of FIG. 11.

Referring firstly to FIG. 1, the structural member shown is generallyreferenced 10 and is an extrusion of indefinite length. The membercomprises a central core 12 from which radiates four spokes 14. The core12 is generally rectangular in cross section and the spokes 14 radiatefrom the corners thereof, there being an re-entrant groove 16 betweeneach pair of adjacent spokes 14. Each groove 16 has a part cylindricalsurface 18 which subtends an angle of approximately 270° at the centrethereof.

Corner structures 20 are provided at the outer end of each spoke 14,each corner structure comprising two flanges 22 which are at rightangles to one another. The longitudinally extending edges 24 of theflanges 22 define longitudinally extending slots 26 leading tolongitudinally extended cavities 28.

The element 30 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is, in the front view shown inFIG. 3, of T-shaped and comprises a collar 32 moulded integrally wih ahead 34. The head 34 includes two protrusions 36 which extend laternallyof the collar 32 on opposite sides thereof and impart the T-shapedconfiguration to the element. The collar 32 includes a cylindricalportion 38 adjacent the head 34 and a part cylindrical portion 40 whichprotrudes from the portion 38 on the side thereof remote from the head34. This configuration gives rise to a flat, part annular, transverselyextending end face 42 which extends parallel to the flat upper face ofthe head 34. A bore 44 passes through the head 34 and cylindricalportion 38. Where the bore 34 encounters the part cylindrical portion40, it becomes a groove 46 of part circular configuration in thelongitudinally extending face 47 of the portion 40. The faces 42 and 47intersect at right angles.

The maximum width of the head 34, as seen in FIG. 3 is greater than thewidth of any of the slots 26 but less than the maximum width of any oneof the cavities 28. The minimum width of the head 34, as viewed in FIG.2, is less than the width of any of the slots 26.

If reference is now made to FIG. 4, this figure shows an element 30mounted on a structural member 10. The bore 44 of the element 30 isaxially aligned with the re-entrant groove 16 so that the groove 46 andre-entrant groove 16 together define a bore which is an extension of thebore 44. A screw 48 is passed freely through the bore 44 (its head beingreceived neatly in the counter bore provided in the head 34) and itsshank is screwed into the re-entrant groove 16. The screw is preferablyof the self tapping type and cuts a thread for itself in the boundingwall of the re-entrant groove 16. The face 42 abuts the end face of thecore 12 and the part-cylindrical portion 40 is in the ad acent cavity28.

FIG. 5 shows two structural members 10 joined by an element 30. Theelement 30 is secured to the horizontal structural member 10.1 and thehead 34 is entered in one of the cavities 28 of the vertical structuralmember 10.2. It will be seen that the protrusions 36 of the head 34 liebehind the flanges 22 defining the slot 26 in which the cylindricalportion 38 of the collar 32 is received.

Two possible procedures are available for joining the structural members10.1 and 10.2 by means of the element 30. Firstly the member 10.1 may bepresented to a side face of the member 10.2 with the maximum dimensionsof the head 34 aligned with the direction of elongation of the slot 26.The head 34 passes between the flanges 22 and the member 10.1 is thenturned through 90° to bring the head to the position in which theprotrusions 36 lie behind the flanges 22. Alternatively, the element 30may be presented to one end of the member 10.2 in the position in whichthe maximum dimension of the head 34 is parallel to the width of theslot 26. The member 10.1 can then be displaced longitudinally of themember 10.2 so that the head 34 enters the cavity 28. The member 10.1 ismoved with respect to the member 10.2 until they reach the desiredrelative positions. The first procedure is the preferred mode ofassembly.

Turning now to FIG. 6 to 10, these figures illustrate the components ofa corner structure for bracing two structural members 10.1 and 10.2which are linked together as shown in FIGS. 5, 11 and 12. FIGS. 6 to 9illustrate an outer component 50 of the corner structure (two of theseare employed) and FIG. 10 illustrates a wedge 52 one of which is usedbetween the two components 50.

The component 50 comprises a main body 54 which is of triangular formwith a right angled corner at 56. The sides of the main body 54 adjacentthe corner 56 are extended by strip-like pieces 58 the cross-sectionalshape of which is best seen in FIG. 7. It will be seen that each ofthese pieces includes A groove 60 one wall of which is constituted bythe adjacent edge 62 of the main body 54 and the other wall of which isconstituted by a vertical face 64 of an edge rib 66 of the piece 58. Itwill be noted that the height of the face 64 is less than that of theedge 62.

The extension pieces 58 have end faces 68 and 70. The two end faces 68,which are at right angles to one another, are aligned with the edges 62of the main body 54. The end faces 70 are aligned with a step 72 (seeFIGS. 8 and 9) provided in the other face of the component 50. Midwaybetween the ends of the step 72 there is a ramp 74 which slopes upwardlyfrom a strip-like surface 76 to the main face 78 of the component 50.The provision of the ramp 74 results in there being flank surfaces 80 oftriangular form which join the main face 78 to the ramp 74.

The wedge 52 is of truncated triangular form having parallel long andshort edges 82 and 84 and converging edges 86.

The corner structure is used to brace two structural members 10.1 and10.2 which meet at right angles as best shown in FIG. 11. It can beassumed that the member 10.2 is a column and that the member 10.1 iscross member.

The two components are held together by an element 30 which, whilepreventing them from being pulled apart, is not complete securityagainst a load on the member 10.1 causing it to slide downwardly withrespect to the member 10.2 or security against twisting of the member10.1.

Two of the components 50 are placed in the angle between the members10.1 and 10.2 the grooves 60 receive the flanges 22 and the ribs 66enlarged behind the flanges. The shape of the component 50 at itscorners prevents it fouling the flanges 22. In this position, there is agap between the components 50 and the ramps l74 are aligned with oneanother. The short edge 84 of the wedge 52 is pushed between thecomponents 50, the ramps 74 and flanks 80 being engaged by the wedge asit enters the gap between the components 50. As the wedge is pushed in,the components 50 are urged apart so that their ribs 66 are firmlyinterlocked with the flanges 22. In this condition, as will be seen inFIG. 12, the wedge 52 is sandwiched by the components 50 and thefrictional engagement between the various components prevents downwardmovement of the member 10.1 with respect to the member 10.2.

The element 30, the components 50 and the wedge 52 may all be mouldingsof synthetic plastics metal.

What is claimed is:
 1. A connecting device for connecting angularlyoriented structural members of the type having longitudinally extendingslots with each slot bounded by two flanges, comprisingtwo, generallyplanar elements with opposed first and second faces, each of saidelements having two grooves formed in its first face adjacent andgenerally parallel to, but spaced from, adjacent edges thereof, saidgrooves of each element intersecting at an angle of less than 180; wedgemeans comprising a wedge member for insertion between said elements andin a plane generally parallel to said elements when said elements aregenerally parallel to each other with said second faces facing towardeach other, with said first faces facing away from each other and withsaid grooves overlapping, to force said elements away from each other.2. A connecting device according to claim 1, wherein said wedge memberis generally planar.
 3. A connecting device according to claim 2,wherein each second face has a generally L-shaped step formed therein toprovide raised face portions adjacent said adjacent element edges and alower face portion remote from said adjacent element edges, and hastriangular inclined ramp surfaces linking its raised and lower faceportions.
 4. A connecting device according to claim 3, wherein saidwedge member is generally planar and triangular in shape.
 5. Aconnecting device according to claim 1, wherein said angle isapproximately 90°.
 6. A connecting device according to claim 1, incombination with first and second structural members, each of saidstructural members has a longitudinally extending slot bounded byopposed edges of two flanges, one end of said second structural membersabuts a longitudinally extending face of said first structural member sothat said structural members form an angle with said slots intersectingto form a continuous, angled slot;said elements are mounted in saidslots and are parallel to each other with said first faces facing awayfrom each other and said second faces facing each other, each groove ofeach element receiving a flange of a different structural member; andsaid wedge member is located between and parallel to said elements, andis substantially coextensive therewith to force said elements outwardlyto lock said elements and said structural members in place.
 7. Aconnecting device according to claim 1, wherein each second face has astep formed therein to provide a raised face portion adjacent saidadjacent element edges and a lower face portion remote from saidadjacent element edges, and inclined ramp surfaces linking its raisedand lower face portions.
 8. A connecting device according to claim 7,wherein each of said inclined ramp surfaces is triangular in shape andhas one edge coextensive with an edge of said raised face portion andanother edge coextensive with an edge of said lower face portion of itselement.
 9. A connecting device according to claim 1, wherein said wedgemember is in the form of a trapezoid having a long edge, a short edgeparallel to the long edge, and two further edges which converge fromsaid long edge towards said short edge.